Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-11-24

spoke to Bougwan in whisper and elias }
| ing her hands, thus, she pleaded with him,
bpt shat she said | know not And 50
| they passed on to the second outer room,
| she pleading, and he shaking his head, and
saying, Nay, nay, nay.' And it seemed TO
me that he was about to call the guard,
| when she stopped talking and looked at
him with her great eyes, and saw that he
was bewitched by her beauty Then she
stretched out her hand and he kissed it;
| wherein [ gathered myself together to adj
| vance and take her, seeing that now had
Bougwan become woman, and no longer
knew the good from evil, when behold! she
was gone. y
.Gone'' | calculated.
lay. gone; ssnd there stood Bougwan,
staring at the wall like one asleep, and
| presently be went too, and | waited awhile
and came away also
Art thou sure, Umslopogaas,o said I,
''that thou hast not been dreamer this
nigbt?"
| Ia reply he opened his left hand and
| produced about three inches of the blissie
| of dagger of the finest steel. If | be,
| Macumazahn, behold what the dream lett
| with me. The knife broke upon Bougwan s
| bosom, and us [ passed picked this up IN
the sleeping-place of the White Queen"
CHAPTER xvIn.-wARl RED WAR;
Telling Umslopogaas to wait. l tumbled
| into my clothes and went OFT with him to
Dir Henry ) room, where the Lulu repeated
his story word for word. 1t Was q sight to
watch Curtis face as he heard it.
''Great neavensl' he said; there have
been snoring away while Nyleptha was
nearly murdered-and all through me; too.
What fiend that Sorais must bel 1t would
have served her well il UmSIOpogaaS had
cut her down in the act'
"Ay." said the Zulu 'fFear not; should
have slain her ere she struck. l was but
waiting the moment"
After he had told his tale Umslopogaas
went off unconcernedly to get his morn
ing meal, and Sir Henry and fell to talk
ing
At first he was very bitter against Good,
who he said, was no longer to be trusted,
having designedly allowed Sorais to escape
by some secret stair, when it was his duty
to have handed her over to justice. In
deed, he spoke in the most unmeasured
terms on the matter
length. lone would never think, to hear
you talk, that you were the man who had
an interview with this same lady yeSter-
day. and found it rather difficult to resist
her destinations, notwithstanding your ties
TO one of the loveIiest and most loving
women in the whole world. Now suppose
that it was Nyleptha who had tried to
murder SoraiS, and yO2t had caught her,
and she had pleaded with yo1t, would you
nave been so very eager to hand her over
Just look at the matter through Goods
eye-glass for minute before you denounce
an old friend as q Sceundrel."
He listened to this jObation submissively,
and then frankly acknowledged that he
had spoken hardly.
While we were bordering, and wonder
ING what was to be done-fOr the whole
subject was a thorny one-T suddenly heard
a great clamOr in the courtyard outside
and distinguished the voices of Umslopo-
gaas and Alphonse, the former curs1ng
furiously, and the latter yelling in terror
Hurrying out to see what was the mat
ter, [ was met by ludicrous sight. The
little Frenchman was running up the
courtyard at an extraordinary speed and
after him sped UmslOpogaas like a great
greyhound. Just as [ came out he caught
him. and lifting him right off his legs, car
very dense towering shrub, which bore
Hover not unlike the gardenia, but was
covered with short thornS. Next, despite
his bowls and struggles, he with one
mighty thrust plunged poor Alphonse head
first into the bush, so that nothing but the
calves of his legs and his heels remained
in evidence. Then, satisfied with what he
had done, the Zulu folded his arms ana
stood grimly contemplating the French
mans kicks, and listening to his yelS,
which were awful.
what art thou doing?" said, running
up "Wouldst thou kill the man? Pull him
out of the bush.''
1t appeared that Alpbonse habitually
cooked Umslopogaas' porridge, which the
latter ate for breakfast in the corner Of the
courtyard. just as he would have done at
home in Zululand, from a gourd and with
a wooden spoon. Now UmSlOpogaaS had,
like many Zulus, a great horror Of fish,
which he considered a species OF water
snake. So Alphonse, who was as fond OF
playing tricks as a monkey, and who was
al m m cook determined
make him eat some. Accordingly, he
grated up quantity of white-fish verv
finely ana mIXe5i - With the Zulu's por-
ridge, who swallowed it nearly al down
in IGNORANCE Of what he was eating. But,
unfortunately for A1phonse, he could not
restrain his JOY at this sight, and came
capering and peering round, till at last
CmSlopogaaS who was very clever in his
way, suspected something, and, after
careful examination of the remains OF his
porridge, discovered 1.-The buffalo heifer's
trick" and, in revenge. served him as
have said.
This incident was unimportant enough
in itself, but [ narrate it because it led to
serious consequences. AS soon as he had
staunched the bleeding from his scratches,
and washed himself, Alphonse went off,
still curSing, to recover his temper, pro
cess which knew from experience would
take a very long time. When he had gone,
gave Umslopogaas jobation, and told
him that L was ashamed OF his behavior.
''Ah, well, Macumazahn," he said, you
must be gentle with me, for here is not my
place | am weary of it; weary to death of
eating and drinking, of sleeping and giving
in marriage. l love not this soft life in
stone houses that takes the heart out of a
man, and turns his strength to water and
his flesh to fat. / love not the white robes
and the delicate women. the blowing of
trumpets and the f1ying of hawks. When
we fought the Nasal at the kraal yonder,
ah, then life was worth the living, but here
is never blow struck in anger, and | be-
gin to think [ shall go the way of my faith
ers and lift Inkosikaasi no more" and he
held up the ak and gazed at it in sorrow.
"Ah,o / said. that is thy complaint, is
it? Thou hast the blood-sickness, hast
thou? and the Woodpacker wants tree.
And at thy age, tool Shame On thee, UNI
slopogaasp'
To be contInued.i